


A Score to Settle

by Ayami (Syrica)



Series: Setleth Week 2019 [3]
Category: Fire Emblem Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Post-Game, mostly kissing, specially when they just wanna kiss, the sauna makes an apperance, they have to keep their relationship a secret but that’s hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 13:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21969787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrica/pseuds/Ayami
Summary: Byleth and Seteth compete to see who can sneak the most kisses
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Seteth
Series: Setleth Week 2019 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577923
Comments: 8
Kudos: 74





	A Score to Settle

**Author's Note:**

> Setleth Week Prompt 3: Sneaking Around

The day it started was as busy as any other. Busy and exhausting.

“Thank you for your time, your highness” the retainer of a moderately prominent lord bowed deeply and ducked out of the office. Byleth nodded her acknowledgment to him as he left and then sighed.

Stretching over her desk, she audibly groaned, “They couldn’t even bother to come here themselves?”

From behind her, Byleth heard the familiar sound of her advisor- and unbeknownst to the world, her fiancé- tutting at her. “I am sure they are just as busy as you are, _your highness._ ” 

Byleth rolled her eyes with her head still down in her desk. She didn’t much care for the archaic title. “Somehow I doubt those cushy nobles have spent the past several days holding audience.” She sat back up and rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands, “I sounded like Dorothea there for a second, huh?”

“Perhaps there is some truth to those words.” Seteth replied. 

Of course there was truth to it. It was obvious from the start that not everyone was as selflessly devoted to seeing Fódlan restored as they were. While many of upper class citizens- ones connected to the professor’s class mostly- were eager to lend help, just as many, if not more, were eager to restore only their own lands and authority therein. 

Byleth turned to face him. Her expression was famously unreadable to most people but Seteth knew from experience the difference in her face- and he could tell she was clearly exhausted; more so than her idle complaints let on. He also knew she stayed up late at night to keep up with the demands of her new office, studying government and church in equal measure. The latter having altered him to this fact in the form of the missing theology books from his office. 

In that moment, he had to do _something_. Even something small to break the monotony of study and work. Something to remind her that she would always have his support. Idea in mind, Seteth stopped for a second to listen for the sound of anyone approaching. 

Byleth eyed him curiously, unsure of what had given him pause. When he was satisfied that no one was near, he quickly bent down and gave the sullen professor a sound kiss. “You are aware that I am proud of you, correct?” he asked after pulling back enough so that if someone were to enter at that moment, they would only see a him speaking quiet advice in her ear.

Perhaps it was the unexpected surprise of _Seteth_ of all people doing something spontaneous, or perhaps it was just a rush of adrenaline from the possibility of being seen when they were still keeping the nature of relationship under wraps- whatever it was, Byleth felt a shock of energy originating from the spot their lips met. She suddenly felt like she could take out any number of enemies should they pour from the door at that very second.  
Still touching her lip Byleth bade quietly, “Do that again. Please?”

“I am afraid that would be inadvisable.” He replied tilting his head towards the door. A undercurrent of pride in his voice was the only hint of his self satisfaction at having affected her.

Right on queue, a knock rang out from the other side. Back to work.

**End of Day 1, Score: 0-1**

Byleth wasn’t going to let it stand. As far as she was concerned, he had stolen a kiss from her once and then withheld his affections unceasingly for the next few days. 

She knew it was a _little_ dangerous. They couldn’t risk people finding out about their engagement just yet, but the idea of sneaking kisses out from under the strict mask he wore in public was beginning to sound more and more appealing. A game of sorts. Sothis knows she needed some sort of reprieve from work. 

She found Seteth near the stables, speaking to a merchant about what she assumed to be supplies, given rathe large cart towed behind the them. While taking a sweep of the area to make sure no one but the three of them were around, she approached from behind Seteth and gave a polite greeting to make herself known.

“Good afternoon, you two.”

The merchant brightened when he saw her walking up to them, quickly ducking down into a polite bow. “Good afternoon yourself! What brings you here, your highness?” 

Byleth internally bristled at the title, silently thanking her natural stoicism for keeping it from showing on her face. Instead, she politely bowed in turn and then folded her hands behind her back, having picked up the habit of defaulting to that stance in professional situations from Seteth. Speaking of, the merchant showed no sign of noticing how close she was standing to the advisor, nearly shoulder to shoulder. Seteth definitely did, shooting her a side glance before returning his attention forward.

“Nothing of importance. I wanted to get out and stretch my legs.” Byleth replied. “Though I am sure you two can’t say the same.” She brought one of her arms behind Seteth’s back in what looked to be a friendly gesture. In truth, she skimmed a delicate pattern across his back with the tips of her fingers, earning her a quick glare from the man who was clearly trying not to squirm. 

Pretending that she didn’t notice this, she continued to address the merchant, “What is it that we have here, then? If you don’t mind?”

“Oh not at all!” he replied excitedly, swiveling in place to take stock of his wares. 

As soon as his back was turned, Byleth threw her arms around Seteth’s neck, pulling him down into a silent kiss that muffled his surprised gasp. It was sloppy and their teeth clashed a little, but crackled with energy just as it had the last time and succeeded in painting Seteth’s face with a noticeable blush.

Just as quickly, Byleth released him, and just in time- the merchant was done explaining his wares, and Byleth nodded as if she had been listening the entire time when he turned to face them once more.

“Mr. Seteth?” The merchant looked a slightly worried, “Are you alright? You look-”

“The heat.” Seteth interrupted by way of explanation, “It is nothing to worry about, I believe I have merely stood out in the sun for too long”

“Of course!” he said, shading his eyes. “Well I best be going then, you should head inside as well, Mr. Seteth.” 

The pair watched him leave, and as soon as he was out of earshot, Seteth turned to Byleth with a serious expression and whispered, “What was that?”

“We’re _even_ now.” Byleth said, not bothering to explain any farther. Choosing to instead, leave him wondering what she meant.

Seteth traced his lip with his finger, watching her walk away, the bounce in her step betraying how smug she felt. 

_Is that what we are calling it now?_

He couldn’t say there was no part of him that wasn’t pleased. If pressed, _in private of course_ , he would readily admit to suffering from occasional waves of longing for his fiancée, and perhaps some part of him was excited at the prospect of possibly getting caught but… 

He sighed. Mostly at himself. _If she wants to play then perhaps I shall oblige. If only to make sure_ she _remains discrete._

Folding his hands behind his back, he made his way towards his office. He had some thinking to do.

**  
End of Day 2, Score: 1-1**

Even though noble families held far less power than before, their cooperation was still very much required in the rebuilding efforts, particularly in the funding department.   
Parties were a good way to gather support from the nobility, according to Byleth’s students: Ferdinand and Lorenz pressed the importance of fine foods and offerings in winning nobles over. Dorothea was more blunt in her advice and said to just trade complements and attention for money. Even Bernadetta admitted to their importance, though she still begged that if they were to host one, to please not invite her.

Seteth left and returned to Byleth’s side many times over the course of the gathering. Sometimes he left to tend to something that had gone awry, sometimes a guest requested time with Byleth alone in a vain attempt at currying favor. Whatever the reason, he’d always leave in a manner that Byleth found _infuriating_ : he’d bow and press a kiss to the back of her hand. A gesture that no one questioned given the context and their respective stations, but Byleth knew he was silently racking up points in their game, and she had no way to make up the difference.

“ _That doesn’t count_.” she hissed under breath as the party was beginning die down. 

“ _I do not recall you ever setting such a rule._ ” he answered, facing slightly away so it would not be obvious to anyone that he was speaking directly to her. 

She opened her mouth to retort, but no words came.

“ _I counted five points for me_.” he teased in a hushed voice. He was beginning to thoroughly enjoy this game.

**End of Day 3, Score: 1-6**

Seteth had to admit, his mood had benefited from quite the pick up since the beginning of his and Byleth’s private competition. He felt like a much younger man whenever he was able to sneak an exhilarating kiss from Byleth and when she would steal one from him in turn. Not only that, but he took pride in both of their skill in not getting caught. Or perhaps he should be worried that no guard had found them sneaking around yet.

Shaking is head, he continued on towards the cathedral on his morning stroll. 

“Good morning, Seteth.” a voice called out to him. Byleth was just walking out of the Saints’ alcove in the corner of the cathedral when she spotted him. 

Seteth nodded politely in her direction, “Good morning to you, as well.” He paused in his step while she continued towards him, noticing that she was looking quite pleased with herself. Seteth hazarded a question, “and what might you be doing in the cathedral so early?”

Byleth stopped a polite distance away from him and folded her hands in front of her in mock innocence, “Oh, you know. I have made a habit of paying my respects is all.” 

Seteth’s eyebrows pulled together as he tried to figure out Byleth was playing at. People came to the cathedral to pay their respects all of the time, wha- wait.

“I will see you later, Seteth.” Byleth waved as she passed him by, pretending like she hadn’t seen the look on his face when he figured it out.

Picking up speed as he walked, though not enough to raise suspicion, he made his way to the alcove. 

“Ah! Mr. Seteth!” The monk who tended to the statues’ upkeep smiled warmly at him as he approached. “First Ms. Eisner and now you! One after the other! I am sure the Saints are very pleased.”

Seteth cleared his throat before speaking with him, attempting to sound as conversational as possible. “Byleth was here, was she? Do you know what for, if I may ask?”

The monk shrugged, “I think your devotion has rubbed off on her. She has made a habit of coming here and paying respects to all of the Saints. She says a silent prayer and even leaves a kiss at the base of them before she leaves.” 

Seteth held back a groan when his suspicions were confirmed.

“I think she is quite partial to Saint Cichol.” The monk continued, not noticing the strange look on Seteth’s face, “she certainly spends the most time at his statue. What is it do you think she prays for?”

Hiding his true expression as best he could, Seteth replied, “While I could guess, I believe that is between Byleth and the Saints, don’t you agree?”

“Ah, yes. Of course Mr. Seteth, you are right.” He affirmed.

Seteth offered him a forced smile, then turned to say a prayer to Saint Cethleann. He would take his mind of off their game for now, but he resolved to speak with her later.

**End of Day 5, Score: 5-9**

Seteth finally caught up to Byleth- she was making her way over to the sauna when he’d finally spotted her. It had been unusually difficult to track her down, almost like she was avoiding him.

“Byleth, may I speak with you on certain points?” He asked, hoping she would pick up on his deliberate word choice to convey the matter on which he wished to speak.

“We may speak in here if you have something to say to me.” She said pointing in the direction of the sauna. “I have a reservation and I would hate to lose it.” 

Seteth narrowed his eyes at her, “If that is what you wish…” he began, “though I do not have an appointment myself.” 

Byleth waved her hand, “Reservations are usually for two people anyways. And it’s lunch, no one is in there. I’m sure there’s plenty of room, so long as you get dressed quickly, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

After a moment’s pause, he conceded and began making his way to the men’s locker. He’d spent the better part of that morning looking for her and he wasn’t going let her slip away this time. 

Seteth considered for a moment that he may be taking their game a little _too_ seriously. Though since he was already there…

Byleth was already seated when Seteth entered the main chamber. Just as she had said, no one else was in there but them. Seteth could not help but begin to suspect she’d set this up on purpose.

“So what was it you wanted to talk about?” Byleth asked from across the room, beckoning him to come near by patting the seat next to her. Deciding he aught to get right to the point, Seteth strode over and sat down as he came out with it, “I assume you already know what I wish to speak to you about.” He ignored the look of faux ignorance she gave and plowed on ahead, “I very much doubt _inanimate statues_ count in our contest, would you agree?”

Byleth smiled wryly before quoting him predictably, “I do not recall you ever setting such a rule.” Seteth frowned at her but she paid it no mind. Lowering her voice and ducking near his ear to finish the rest of her point, she whispered “besides, as far as I can tell, the only rule is that I need to kiss you without anyone knowing. Now _who is that a statue of again?_ ”

Seteth rolled his eyes and in a similarly hushed tone replied, “You cannot even reach above the pedestal. Even _if_ it counted, you never kissed ‘me’.” 

Byleth looked at him as if he were an animal that had just walked into her trap, as he suspected he just had. “Allow me to rectify that, then.” She quipped as she tugged him into a fierce kiss, wrapping her arms around him tightly. 

Later he would argue that it was due to the apparent seclusion of the room they were in combined with the heat of the sauna, but Seteth didn’t even consider putting up any resistance to this very visible display of affection. On the contrary, he elected to place two hands on either side of her, tilt his head slightly, and lean into her so as to thoroughly deepen kiss. Byleth hummed her appreciation against him and ventured forward, prodding at his lips with her tongue. 

_A little eager, are we?_ He huffed as he, against his better judgement, parted his lips for her. Her tongue swept his own, while her hands grabbed his hair at the base of his neck, encouraging him downwards with her. A request he would have gladly granted, had it not been for the loud sound of someone behind them, clearing their throat.

“ _That is not what the sauna is for_ ” the voice sounded like its owner was trying to sound commanding while also being very uncomfortable.

Immediately, the two flew apart and looked towards the source of the voice: the sauna keep who was trying very hard to avoid eye contact with either of them. After a few moments of painfully awkward silence, Byleth spoke, voice seemingly unaffected, “Can we ask you to please keep this under wraps?”

He shook his head, still avoiding looking at either of them, “You don’t have to worry about me saying anything, but half of the staff knows already anyways.” 

The pair looked wide eyed at each other then back to the keep, who went on to explain, “You guys aren’t as sneaky as you think.”

**Final day, Score: 0-0**


End file.
